The National Institute for Animal Agriculture will host a symposium Oct. 26 and 27, 2011, in Chicago called “Antibiotic Use in Food Animals: A Dialogue for a Common Purpose.” The public symposium will provide a broad view of antibiotic use in food animals from a variety of presenters in the private and public sectors. Leonard Bull, Ph.D., P.A.S., chairman of the symposium planning committee said the symposium will focus on four key areas, including: • The use of antibiotics in food animal production; • Human health implications relative to antibiotic use; • Understanding and communicating the risks associated with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in livestock; • Identifying additional research needs regarding how and to what extent antimicrobial resistance develops in humans and animals. “Symposium presenters are going to take an in-depth, science-based look at the benefits of antibiotics to animals and to humans and zero in specifically on when antibiotics need to be used, what we all currently know and don’t know and what each of us needs to know,” Dr. Bull said. “I want to stress that the symposium will be a dialogue, not a debate.” Scott Hurd, DVM, Ph.D., associate professor in the Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine department at the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine, will moderate the symposium. Dr. Hurd is a former deputy undersecretary for food safety with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service. The symposium will commence at 3 p.m. Central Time on Wednesday, Oct. 26 at the Intercontinental Chicago O’Hare hotel and will conclude on Thursday, Oct. 27 at 3 p.m. The symposium immediately follows the 2011 Food System Summit, Oct. 25-26, hosted by the Center for Food Integrity at the same venue. Registration for the event is $245 for NIAA members and $295 for non-members. Students can attend for $50 per day. A full list of presenters, panelists and topics, along with registration information, can be found on the NIAA website. <Home>
